RSS Parrot

Above my pay grade: Jensen Huang and the quantum computing stock market crash

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Published: January 9, 2025 21:58

Apparently Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, opined on an analyst call this week that quantum computing was plausibly still twenty years away from being practical. As a direct result, a bunch of publicly-traded quantum computing companies (including IonQ,…

The Google Willow thing

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Published: December 10, 2024 16:10

Yesterday I arrived in Santa Clara for the Q2B (Quantum 2 Business) conference, which starts this morning, and where I’ll be speaking Thursday on “Quantum Algorithms in 2024: How Should We Feel?” and also closing the conference via an Ask-Us-Anything…

Podcasts!

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Published: December 4, 2024 21:31

Do you like watching me spout about AI alignment, watermarking, my time at OpenAI, the P versus NP problem, quantum computing, consciousness, Penrose’s views on physics and uncomputability, university culture, wokeness, free speech, my academic trajectory,…

Thanksgiving

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Published: November 28, 2024 18:29

I’m thankful to the thousands of readers of this blog.  Well, not the few submit troll comments from multiple pseudonymous handles, but the 99.9% who don’t. I’m thankful that they’ve stayed here even when events (as they do more and more often) send me…

Letter to a Jewish voter in Pennsylvania

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Published: November 4, 2024 04:43

Important Announcement: I don’t in any way endorse voting for Jill Stein, or any other third-party candidate. But if you are a Green Party supporter who lives in a swing state, then please at least vote for Harris, and use SwapYourVote.org to arrange for…

Steven Rudich (1961-2024)

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Published: November 3, 2024 00:38

I was sure my next post would be about the election—the sword of Damocles hanging over the United States and civilization as a whole. Instead, I have sad news, but also news that brings memories of warmth, humor, and complexity-theoretic insight. Steven…

My podcast with Brian Greene

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Published: October 19, 2024 02:07

Yes, he’s the guy from The Elegant Universe book and TV series. Our conversation is 1 hour 40 minutes; as usual I strongly recommend listening at 2x speed. The topics, chosen by Brian, include quantum computing (algorithms, hardware, error-correction ……

My Nutty, Extremist Beliefs

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Published: October 14, 2024 00:03

In nearly twenty years of blogging, I’ve unfortunately felt more and more isolated and embattled. It now feels like anything I post earns severe blowback, from ridicule on Twitter, to pseudonymous comment trolls, to scary and aggressive email bullying…

My October 7 post

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Published: October 7, 2024 17:09

For weeks I agonized over what, if anything, this post should say. How does one commemorate a tragedy that isn’t over for millions of innocents on either side? How do I add to what friend-of-the-blog Boaz Barak and countless others have already written? …

Quantum advantage for NP approximation? For REAL this time?

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Published: October 5, 2024 21:43

The other night I spoke at a quantum computing event and was asked—for the hundredth time? the thousandth?—whether I agreed that the quantum algorithm called QAOA was poised revolutionize industries by finding better solutions to NP-hard optimization…

Sad times for AI safety

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Published: October 1, 2024 17:06

Many of you will have seen the news that Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, the groundbreaking AI safety bill that overwhelmingly passed the California legislature. Newsom gave a disingenuous explanation (which no one on either side of the debate…

The International Olympiad in Injustice

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Published: September 26, 2024 05:41

Today is the day I became radicalized in my Jewish and Zionist identities. Uhhh, you thought that had already happened? Like maybe in the aftermath of October 7, or well before then? Hahahaha no. You haven’t seen nothin’ yet. See, a couple days…

Quantum Computing: Between Hope and Hype

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Published: September 22, 2024 21:55

So, back in June the White House announced that UCLA would host a binational US/India workshop, for national security officials from both countries to learn about the current status of quantum computing and post-quantum cryptography. It fell to me my…

AI transcript of my AI podcast

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Published: September 22, 2024 15:39

In the comments of my last post—on a podcast conversation between me and Dan Fagella—I asked whether readers wanted me to use AI to prepare a clean written transcript of the conversation, and several people said yes. I’ve finally gotten around to doing…

My podcast with Dan Faggella

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Published: September 15, 2024 17:52

Dan Faggella recorded an unusual podcast with me that’s now online. He introduces me as a “quantum physicist,” which is something that I never call myself (I’m a theoretical computer scientist) but have sort of given up on not being called by others. But…

Quantum fault-tolerance milestones dropping like atoms

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Published: September 10, 2024 17:03

Between roughly 2001 and 2018, I’ve happy to have done some nice things in quantum computing theory, from the quantum lower bound for the collision problem to the invention of shadow tomography.  I hope that’s not the end of it.  QC research brought me…

In Support of SB 1047

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Published: September 4, 2024 15:49

I’ve finished my two-year leave at OpenAI, and returned to being just a normal (normal?) professor, quantum complexity theorist, and blogger. Despite the huge drama at OpenAI that coincided with my time there, including the departures of most of the…

Book Review: "2040” by Pedro Domingos

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Published: September 1, 2024 06:23

Pedro Domingos is a computer scientist at the University of Washington.  I’ve known him for years as a guy who’d confidently explain to me why I was wrong about everything from physics to CS to politics … but then, for some reason, ask to meet with me…

"The Right Side of History”

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Published: August 16, 2024 23:22

This morning I was pondering one of the anti-Israel protesters’ favorite phrases—I promise, out of broad philosophical curiosity rather than just parochial concern for my extended family’s survival. “We’re on the right side of history. Don’t put…

My Reading Burden

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Published: August 14, 2024 19:41

Want some honesty about how I (mis)spend my time? These days, my daily routine includes reading all of the following: The comments on this blog (many of which I then answer) The Washington Post (“The Post Most” takes me about an hour a day, every…

My pontificatiest AI podcast ever!

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Published: August 11, 2024 20:56

Back in May, I had the honor (nay, honour) to speak at HowTheLightGetsIn, an ideas festival held annually in Hay-on-Wye on the English/Welsh border. It was my first time in that part of the UK, and I loved it. There was an immense amount of mud due to…